Earlier today I present you with these problems the National Puzzlers’ Leaguethe world’s oldest association of crossword lovers, active since 1883. Here they are again with answers.
The puzzles are “flats”, a genre unique to the NPL, which are small pieces of light verse with a few missing words. Here is an explanation of the puzzles for those who missed the original story. For those who have, please skip ahead.
1. HETERONYM (4 6, 4 3 3)
Ranger Station at Frozen Lake:
Two signs pasted JOIN and BREAK
=HOT, Berkeley CA
All apartments have the same shape. The title explains the type of pun, and the number of letters in the answer. Words in CAPITAL LETTERS are the missing words, that is, the spaces in the text where each answer goes, in order. The last line is the author’s nom de plume and address.
In the example above, “heteronym” means that the answer is two phrases consisting of the same letters in the same order. One phrase has word lengths 4 and 6. The other has word lengths 4 and 3 and 3.
Answer: park office, park off ice
Note: An asterisk means the first letter of the word is a capital letter.
2. HETERONYM (6 3 4, *5 *2 *6)
Watch him maneuver PRIMAL on his handmade telescope –
He will study FINAL, calm now, with lovely snow slope.
=NEWOW, Brookline MA
hint: it’s about a now-dormant volcano in the Northwestern United States.
Answer: mount the lens, Mount St Helens
3. HETERONYMOUS (3 4, 7, 2 5)
Aragorn will hit the ONE
Then, retreat through the TWO
Eat a bite of spinach THREE
(Any leafy thing will do).
=[ANONYMOUS]
hint: Aragorn is a character in the Lord of the Rings. The second line requires an extra detail: in the place where he retreats, there may be apples in the trees.
Answer: ork hard, orchard, or chard
4. HETERONYM (6, 2 4)
He was a beginner, a tyro, an ONE.
TWO or dark sin. He just didn’t start.
=NEWOW, Brookline MA
Answer: beginner, no vice
Flats can be one of dozens of types of puns. The REBUS, for example, is when an image presents a heteronymous reading of the answer. In other words, the image describes a phrase that contains the same letters in the same order as the solution. Here is an example.
5. REBUS (14)
I raise my glass on Mother’s Day
“To Mother – you have earned your battle wages.
I miss your desire to raise brats.
Who needs the whining, fighting or flak?”
My mother blows back a hazy nod
“Mixed children who will misbehave
Growth. One day you will find that CAIN
Have all the joys without the pain.”
=CRAX, Mountain View CA
Word nerds note: the second stanza is a pangram, meaning it contains every letter of the alphabet. Note to drinkers: the fuzzy clove is a cocktail.
Answer: grandparenting (G; R and P are not in G)
6. REBUS (*3 *4 *5)
A film like ANSWER shows there is great enjoyment
By dancing naked when faced with unemployment.
=MO’ OF COURSE, Pebblework CY
Answer: The Full Monty (The full M on TY) (Another clue was the picture at the top of the story, a photo from the movie.)
7. REBUS (6 6)
He prides himself on being rude.
However, self-esteem is a tricky business.
He is quite slow and clumsy to be fair.
He is ALL, although he is the last to know.
=NEWOW, Brookline MA
hint: the animal on the left is a normal rodent, and the animal on the right requires an article.
Answer: rather oafish (rat hero, a fish)
8. REBUS (*6 2 8)
In ANSWER roil for bigger dough
If near Idaho? Do not know.
=NEWOW, Brookline MA
tip: look at the contents of stamp 1, then stamp 2, then stamps 3 & 4 together. The answer contains an American spelling ie an ‘o’ where in the UK we would write ‘old’.
Answer: Oregon does laborers (ore, gondola, drillers)
9. REBUS (6 6)
= HOAX
tip: what’s clever here is that both the pun and a representation of the answer are in the image
Answer: ranger, (for E, strange R)
10. REBUS (15 17)
The phone rings.
I answer it, then hang up.
How I hate HAIKU.
=MR. TEX
(MR TEX, by the way, is Mike Reiss, a former showrunner of the cartoon series The Simpsons.)
Answer: wrong numbers
In a homonym, the answers are spelled differently but sound the same.
11. HOMONYM (3, 4, 4)
=TOONHEAD!, Boston MA
hint: here are three words, all spelled differently, but all pronounced identically when spoken in an American accent. (This is probably my favorite.) When spoken in British English, two have a dipthong and are pronounced identically and the third without a dipthong is very close to the other two.
Answer: nus, gnus, news
12. HOMONYM (10, 3 9)
My techie husband went rogue.
He froze my machine.
He wants me to pay.
He got away clean.
I don’t have access to files.
He took what was mine.
I love that he
Deploy TEN, then THREE NINE.
=FEMUR, New York, NY
tip: this is very topical, especially if you are a user of the British Library,
Answer: ransomware, ran somewhere
The final flat is a mixture of homonym and rebus. The image describes a homonym of the answer.
13. PHONETIC REBUS (9)
When crops begin to STAND,
Green carpets the country.
=NEWOW, Brookline MA
Answer: germinate (German 8)
If you want to join the NPL, membership is only $30 and it gets you 12 monthly issues of his house journal The ENIGMA.
Thanks to Henri Picciotto (aka HOT), who introduced me to the NPL and helped research this column.
I hope you enjoyed today’s food. I’ll be back in two weeks.
I’ve been doing a puzzle here on alternate Mondays since 2015. I’m always on the lookout for great puzzles. If you want to suggest one, email me.
